Angel City.
To most, it is a misnomer. Drugs, alcohol, and other vices corrupt the people here. It is nothing new, though. Almost all cities around the world have these problems in some form. My brothers and sisters talk about it quite often. It matters not to me, not in the way they would think.
In my city, I am a detective for the Angel City Police Department and a partner to Angela Dodson. Compared to other humans I work with, she is quite remarkable. Before we were assigned to each other, she was involved in an incident last year. The son of Lucifer almost came through her to the human world, she lived with the help of John Constantine. It marveled all reapers once word got around. Even before she became my partner, her aura projected quite a bit. She has been tense as of late. I do not know why, but I also feel that something in the air is off.
I cannot think about it too much lest my work begins to suffer, on both accounts.
Now, both Angela and I are at our adjacent desks, filling out case reports for the day. It is 10:15 at night, we are both ready to get out of here.
"You have any plans for tonight, Laura?" Angela asks me.
"Not much. I usually just go out for a walk around the city, then go to bed." I answer. She does not seem satisfied with it.
"Come on. You don't ever go out to any fun places?" She asks again. I look at her for a moment, confused.
"What would you define as 'fun'?" I return. She shrugs in response.
"Going to a club, a bar, a library even." As she is saying this, I continue with finishing my last report. Angela starts putting everything away, gathering her things into her purse. Once I finish writing, I do the same. "Come on." She stands beside me, waiting for me to finish packing my things. I do and follow her out of the precinct, wondering what ideas she has in her head now. She is the type that likes out of the box thinking. Depending on the situation, that is either good or bad.
We walk out into the night, down the sidewalk, and deeper into the more urban side of town. Bright lights envelope the night from all sides. It is a stark contrast to my usual nightly outing. I only stay within two blocks of my apartment, and for good reason. When the clocks stop and everything freezes, it is time to get down to business. I need to be ready. For now, at least, I think I can stand to relax a little. I walk beside my partner, I would say acquaintance.
As the night goes on, we do not feel like drinking or partying. Angela decides to show me a little food stand; mostly for the coffee, I predict. Regardless, a little stopping point for a snack is welcome. I order a classic breakfast platter with eggs, bacon, and toast. As we stand there eating and drinking, Angela starts to make conversation.
"Are you having fun yet?" She asks. I look up from my meal briefly to answer.
"I am. Your company is a nice change." I smile. "I do have one question, though."
"Ask away." She is open
"Why did you decide to do this with me?" I ask. This question, strangely, does not catch her off guard.
"We've been partners for a few months now and we haven't gotten the chance to get to know each other." She answers in stride.
"Why does it matter?" I ask again. She pauses for a moment.
"I just thought that we could both do with a change. If I'm going to be working closely with someone and trust them with my life, I should at least try to be friends with them. Am I wrong?" She waits for my answer. I do not find it in me to be annoyed.
"I find myself agreeing with you. You are not wrong. I think I would do with having more of a life outside of work." I say with a small smile. As I am about to resume eating my snack, I hear my phone ringing. "Excuse me for a moment. I need to take this." I say, politely. Angela nods.
"Go ahead. I'll be right here." I thank her and quickly move away from the stand a few feet around the corner. All calls on my cell are urgent. There are only a select few people that call me on it, good or bad reasons as to why. I take no risks in letting them go to voicemail. I pull the phone out of my pocket and flip it open, putting it to my ear.
"Hello?" I answer.
"Hey, Laura!" My closest brother, Dmitri, answers back. Always the bright one of the bunch, ever since our creation. I smile.
"Hello, Dmitri." I greet back.
"So... how's life?" He asks. I chuckle.
"Looking up at the moment. How about yours?" There is silence on the other end of the line. A foreboding feeling comes over me as my smile disappears. "Is something wrong, Dmitri?" I ask. This behavior is uncharacteristic of him.
"Yeah. Some of our siblings... I can't get in contact with them. I tried to look for them, too but it looks like they just vanished." This is not good. As reapers, we are NEVER supposed to abandon our posts, and we are always supposed to be reachable. These are the most strict rules we follow. None of us would willingly break them.
"Do you have any leads?" I ask.
"Careful, sis. You're starting to sound like a cop. No, I don't know what's going on, yet. I'm still snooping around. I can't help but feel like something's coming. What about you?" He says.
"Maybe. The world feels off like you said. Something is building up, it is not explainable." I answer back.
"I'll keep looking around my city, you do the same?" He asks.
"I will. Just... be careful, brother." I say, truly worried for my closest kin.
"I always am, sister. Good luck." He says goodbye.
"You, too. Talk to you later." I hang up the call, the dreadful feeling staying with me. What on this Earth is causing this to happen, and why? I need to devote a lot of my spare time to investigate without drawing attention to myself.
"You okay?" I hear from beside me. I look up, Angela is to my left and she looks concerned.
"I am fine," I answer, vaguely, "just some family troubles. Are you ready to continue our outing?" I try to deflect and move on from the subject.
"Sure." She looks reluctant, but we are off again, down the street. At the moment, I try to forget about the phone call.
As the night goes on, it proves more difficult. After Angela and I say our goodbyes and part ways when I get home, that feeling is still at the forefront of my mind. But, as they say, there is no rest for the wicked. Once I enter my lounging area, it is completely silent. Not even the clock is ticking; time has stopped. That means someone else's time has stopped and it is time for me to get to work.
I clutch my scythe talisman, leaving everything else behind in my apartment, and I leave.
The work never ceases.